Sandra Yarwood, a media consultant from London, returned from a two-week holiday in Canada to discover her Volkswagen Golf had been targeted by criminals who cloned its license plate. She was astonished to receive 32 traffic violation notices, totaling £2,800 (approximately $3,500), from seven different local authorities. The fines were for offenses such as driving in bus lanes, illegal parking, and entering restricted zones across the capital.
Ms. Yarwood realized she was a victim of a growing registration-plate cloning scam affecting motorists in Britain. Thousands of drivers annually experience fraudulent copies of their plates attached to different vehicles, used to evade traffic penalties or commit crimes. In her case, the cloned registration number was fitted to a similar black Golf in south London.
The process of contesting the fines became a significant ordeal. "I can't count the hours I've spent fighting the tech and the bureaucracy," Ms. Yarwood stated, emphasizing the difficulty in appealing traffic fines and the lack of accessible human support. "Most of the time you can't speak to anyone at all. The default position is that you must have done it."
Although her plates were cloned in mid-June, eight weeks later, Ms. Yarwood still had outstanding fines. Due to missed deadlines, one council ordered her to appear before legal tribunals scheduled for February 2027. She believed reporting the cloning to the DVLA and police would suffice, but was instead deluged with requests for proof of her car's location during the offenses and detailed photographs.
Ms. Yarwood meticulously photographed her car, noting distinguishing features such as an English Heritage sticker on her windscreen and a scratch from a low bollard, which were absent on the car in the penalty charge notices. She also identified the absence of a sunroof on the offending vehicle.
She spent considerable time uploading evidence to various websites, as each notice required a separate appeal. While some authorities like Greenwich, Transport for London, Southwark, Central Parking Management, and Merton conceded her case after reviewing the information, websites for Lewisham and Lambeth proved problematic. She encountered technical difficulties, including blank screens and an unhelpful chatbot, when trying to upload evidence. After persistent effort and speaking to a human representative at Lambeth, her appeals were eventually processed.
A spokesperson for Lambeth confirmed that both outstanding Penalty Charge Notices (PCNs) against Ms. Yarwood have now been canceled, apologizing for the difficulties she experienced and acknowledging a technical issue that briefly prevented website submissions. The spokesperson also noted that in cases of alleged cloning, a high level of evidence, including photos of all sides of the vehicle, is required. Lewisham also confirmed the cancellation of its PCNs and apologized for the frustrating process, stating they are working to improve how cloned registration cases are identified and reviewed.